When a pitcher has his best pitch working all the time, it makes a big difference in his efforts on the mound. For the Milwaukee Brewers' Chad Patrick, his cut fastball is simply one of the best pitches on the team.

That is based upon some feedback from those who watch the Brewers' pitching staff very closely.

Brewers beat reporter Adam McCalvy of MLB.com decided to look at a number of different pitchers and their key big-time pitches. Sammy Peralta's sweeper, Kyle Harrison's changeup, and Brandon Sproat's sweeper all gained attention.

Patrick has made his cutter potentially one of baseball's best pitches.

Last season, the former fourth-round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks posted a 3-5 record with a 3.53 ERA. In 27 games (23 starts), Patrick recorded 127 strikeouts and had a 1.28 WHIP, according to his Baseball Savant profile.

Patrick has four pitches in his pitching arsenal: A cutter, a sinker, a four-seam fastball, and a changeup.

He threw his cutter 41.1% of the time, with his sinker coming in second with 23% usage during the 2025 season. Patrick used his four-seam fastball 22.3% of the time, too. The changeup was not used as often, but could be an effective out pitch.

Why is Patrick's cutter so effective? He used it to his advantage as Patrick became electric as a relief pitcher in the Brewers' postseason run. Brewers catcher Reese McGuire has some thoughts on it.

 “He threw a cutter up and in on a lefty who swung and missed, and it was like 15 [inches of induced vertical break] and 11 [inches of vertical break],” McGuire said. “It was crazy. It came out and took a left-hand turn.” 

McGuire was talking about a pitch to Diamondbacks outfielder Gavin Conticello in a March 6 Cactus League game.

McGuire noted when speaking with McCalvy that pitchers are always looking to find different ways to have an advantage over hitters.

"They’re always tweaking something,” McGuire said. “Funny enough, they’ll sometimes throw something that I think looks pretty nasty, and then they look at [data on] the iPad and they’re kind of shaking their head, not really liking it. They’ve got their numbers they’re trying to get their pitch shape to look like.

“But the game is the real deal," McGuire continued. "The cutter he threw in the game, the hitter’s reaction to it, was like, ‘What the [bleep] was that?’ When you get those kinds of reactions, that’s the shape you want.”

If Patrick can continue to throw his cutter with effectiveness, then he might just become one of the stars of the Brewers' pitching staff.

Brewers fans better mark down McGuire's name on their scorecards this season and watch to see if he takes the mound.

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